Statistical card feeding mechanism



M r 1953 w. WOCKENFUSS ETAL 2,632,644

I STATISTICAL CARD F EEDING MECHANISM Filed Oct. 6,1950 3 Sheets-Sheet lIN VEN TOR. ifilbam I/bakazzflms, y Herman 151mb,

March 1953 w. WOCKENFUSS ETAL STATISTICAL CARD FEEDING MECHANISM FiledOct. 6, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet im I llllllH am nth/$5, By 17811237. m/ MHTIWM INVENTOR. 1/005? w. WOCKENFUSS ETAL STATISTICAL CARD FEEDINGMECHANI March 24, 1953 s Sheets-Sheet :5

Filed Oct. 6, 1950 Patented Mar. 24, 1953 V 2,61%,644:- STATISTICAL CARDFEEDING MECHANISM William Wockenfuss, Union, N-. .L, and Herman A..Speh, Roosevelt, ;N. Y., assignors, by mesna assignments, to Burroughs.Adding, Machine,

Company, a corporation of Michigan, Application October 6, 1950, SerialNo. 188,708:

11 Claims.

Thisi-nvention relates to improvements in statistical card machinesandhas particular reference to-a card: feeding mechanism therefor.

object of the inventionisto provide an improvedmechanismwherein thefeeding of cards, seriatim; from a stack maybe interrupted during thecontinuous operation of said mechanism.

Another object is to providefor the shifting of a continuouslyoperable'card picker member between-inoperative and operative positionswith respect to cardsto be-fedthereby-while said member is beingoperated.

A further obj-ect is to control the feed of cards from a stackiby-movinga. stop into the-path of acetate-positively prevent its-feed While thepicker memberis-being continuously driven in its inoperative positionand-by retracting said stop from saidpatlr-when said picker-member isren-' dered operative to feed the cards. r

A still further object is to mount the'continuonsly operated cardpickermember for rotative movement upon the first of two telescoping elements,and toreciprocally drive thefirst element relative tothe second elementand mount the sameandsaid picker member for movement, under control"ofsaid second element, to and from operative position relative to cardsto be fed.

-The aboivei and other objects will appear more clearly. from thefollowing detailed description taken in connection with the accompanymedrawings whichillustrate a preferred embodimentof theinventive idea;butitis to be express- 1y? understood. thatasaid drawings are employedmerelyto;facilitatethe:description. of the inventioniasawholeand. nottodefine the limits thereof, .referencezheing'uhad to. the appended.claims for this purpose.

e In. the. drawings:

Fig; 1. is atop. planview, partly broken away, of a: ard feedingmechanism. constructed in accordance; with the invention and with the.card magazine .remoyed;

Fist-.2. is afront. elevation of said mechanism, looking; .thedirection.of the arrow in Fig 3 Eia;..3..is a. transverse: section takensubstantiallynn .theline.3-3. ofxFig. 1, showing a portion of the-card,magazinewith. the card picker member of the mechanism inits operativeposition and a card stop enacting therewith in. its inoperativeposition;-.. and

Eigz. $.15: a. fragmentary. view similar to Fig. 3 showing: the cardpicker member and stop in the reverse, position of that. shown in Fig.3.

Generally, the feed mechanism is disposed between; thesixde plates 5which support the card magazines f om. h n e-car s are fed, s r at in.through throatformed.v by the block 8 to the feed rollers 9; that conveythe cards to the usual card, analyzer- Extending between. and securedtothe sideplates adjacent the delivery end of the; magazine is asupportingcasting |0.to theupper-ed-geof which is fastened a plate [l haveingforwardlyextending. card guide fingers that endthereof under, which,the cards pass as they; approach the feed. position.

The drive fol-the feed mechanism. to bepres: entlydescribed includes anoscillatory shaft [3. journaled in the side plates 5 and operated bythe-follower members M- mounted on one end of the andengagedwith thecomplementary cams l s driven from. any suitable source of power (notshow-n) The. oscillation of, said shaft, is impartedto two setsofoperating levers Iii-which extend. forwardly through openings in thecaste ing to and are connected at their forward ends to the feedmechanism to continuously recipro! cate the two picker heads I! forming.apart. of said mechanism.

. Said heads ii and their mountings are similar-9.

ly constructed and therefore a description of one will sufice; it:being-understood that, they are op -i erated;i-n. u1:risc n.v Each. headis. rotatively supported: on. the upper end of a sleeve member 18whichconstitutesa drivei forthe head and the: lower end ef whichpivotallyconnected at H! to-one set of operatinglevers Iii for limitedmove m et-t ward an aw y rom. the: cards 1 1,-. in; other words,laterally with respect to the direce of. reciprocatio f; thetead so atitmay be. shiftedbetween op crative and inoperative positions -as,vshown in liig s. 3 and l To support... he e d l on the pp end of. heslee l o m vement th ewi h he latter is; fl n ed at. 20 and. the usualpicker knife-2i securedpto. the top. of said head and enga ed with saidflange. Theh ad i I. seuided. ts. r ciprocation... b thwh n in ts. prative and. inop ra iv pQSit Qns. by the u de rod. 2 which. t les pes. Whin the. sleeve. s, a d- .said' rod; scQ trQ1lQdn; a manner to pr e tlyaop n. o hi t. saidhead between said. p i i e h am t s in operation ablock.

which. r s; he p vot 39 iQr thesleeve l8...

and c p ocates with th latt r, a so has secured thereto at 2.4 acardsupportingplate 25. that con.-. stantly engages the lowermost card 1and moves with-the head I] so as to reduce friction. as said cards arestripped, from; the stack.

The mechanism for controlling the lateral movements of, the two. headsI1 between operative. and inoperative positions will now be described,

This mechanism comprises a rock shaft 26 supported in brackets 21 and 28secured to the side plates 5, and said bracket 2? also has fastenedthereto a solenoid 29 the operation of which may be controlled, by anydesired circuit, to rock said shaft 26 and thereby accomplish theshifting of the picker heads ll from inoperative to operative positions,or vice versa. The core of the solenoid is joined to one end 30 of alever secured on the shaft 26, the other end 3| of said lever beingconnected by a retractile spring 32 to the bracket 21 so as to rock theshaft 26 clockwise, when the solenoid 29 is de-energized, to shift theparts to the position of Fig. 4 wherein the picker heads arereciprocated in their inoperative positions. Secured to the shaft 28directly above each picker head is an arm 33 carrying a pin 34connected, by a spring 31, to one arm 35 of a bell crank 36 loose onsaid shaft. The lower extremity of the other arm 38 of said bell crankis pivotally connected to a head 39 secured to the upper end of theguide 22 so that motion transmitted to the bell crank 36 will beimparted to the head 39 to shift the guide rod 22 and, consequently, thehead, I! between the inoperative and operative positions thereof. Whenthe solenoid 29 is energized to move the heads H to their operativeposition of Fig. 3, the counterclockwise rotation of the shaft 26 willcause the arm 33 associated with each picker head to move in a similardirection and thus, through the tension spring 31, exert a pull upon theconnected arm 35 of the bell crank 36 to turn the same on the shaft 26so that the head 39 and guide 22 will be moved forwardly toward thecards with the result that each guide 22 will shift its associated headI! to engage the latter with the bottom card of the stack, whereuponreciprocation of the heads will strip said card and feed it to therollers 9. After the head I! is engaged with the card, each arm 33 has aslight additional movement which spaces its pin 34 from the adjacentedge of the arm 38 of said bell crank 36, as shown in Fig. 3, and thisadditional movement places the spring 31 under sufficient tension sothat it will have a tendency to constantly urge the picker head I? inthe direction of the card and thus permit it, by reason of its rotativemovement on the sleeve, to accommodate itself to any possible slightcurvature in the card which it contacts so as to assure properengagement of the picker knife 2| with the top edge of the cardpreparatory to feeding the same downwardly.

Upon de-energization of the solenoid 29, the spring 32 becomes effectiveto rock the lever 30, 3| and the shaft 26 clockwise and this movement isalso imparted to the arms 33 secured on said shaft so that the pins 34will re-engage the arms 38 and rock the bell cranks 36 in the samedirection to shift the guides 22 of the two picker heads I! to theposition of Fig. 4 wherein said heads will continue their reciprocationin an inoperative position so as not to feed cards from the magazine.

During the reciprocation of the heads I! in their inoperative positionitis desirable to positively prevent feed of the cards from the magazinewhich might otherwise occur by reason of the continuous reciprocation ofthe supporting plate 25 in contact with the bottom card of the stack.For this purpose there is provided two stop members 40 each pivotallymounted adjacent its lower end upon the casting l and movable into andout of the path of the bottom card in the. magazine. When the solenoid29 is energized for the feed of said cards said stops are adjusted totheir inoperative position of Fig. 3, and when said solenoid isde-energized said stops are adjusted to their operative position of Fig.4. This adjustment of the stops is accomplished by a solenoid 4| mountedupon a bracket 42 secured to the casting I0 and having its coreconnected to one end of a lever 43 the other end of which is joined to alink 44 having a pin and slot connection 45 with the upper end of one ofthe pivoted stops 43 which, in the illustration, is the one shown inFig. 3. The lever 43 is secured to one end of a rock shaft 43 supportedat the rear of the casting I0 and the other end of said shaft has fixedthereon an arm 4'! to which is connected a link 43 like the link 44 andsimilarly connected to the other stop 43. With this construction, motionimparted to the lever 43 to operate the stop 43 shown in Fig. 3 is alsotransmitted through the shaft 45 to likewise control the other stop 40.

Energization of the solenoid 4| is controlled by any desired circuit andoccurs simultaneously with the energization of the solenoid 29. When soenergized, the solenoid 4| rocks the lever 43 and arm 4?counterclockwise and through the links 44 and 48, adjusts the stops 40to their inoperative position. A spring 49 connecting the iever 43 withthe bracket 42 is placed under tension by the energization of thesolenoid 4| and upon de-energization thereof acts to rock the lever 43and arm 41 clockwise. Tension springs 38 and 5| (Fig. 1) connecting thelever 43 and arm 47 with the upper ends of the stops 40 act, uponde-energization of solenoid 4|, to assist in the movement of the stopsto their operative position beneath the lower edge of the bottom card inthe stack and thus prevent any possibility of it being fed from themagazine while the picker heads are reciprocating in their inoperativepositions.

What is claimed is:

1. Record card feeding mechanism comprising two telescoping members onereciprocating relative to the other and also mounted for pivotalmovement, a card picker member having inoperative and operativepositions relative to cards to be fed, said picker member being carriedby the first named telescoping member for reciprocation therewith, meansto continuously reciprocate said first named and card picker members, inboth positions of the latter member, and means to actuate said othertelescoping member to move said first named member about its pivot tothereby adjust said picker member from inoperative to operative positionduring reciprocation thereof.

2. Record card feeding mechanism comprising two telescoping members onereciprocating relative to the other and also mounted for pivotalmovement, a card picker member having inoperative and operativepositions relative to cards to be fed, said picker member being carriedby the first named telescoping member for reciprocation therewith andalso having a rotative movement with respect thereto while in itsoperative position, means to continuously reciprocate said first namedand card picker members in both positions of. the latter member, andmeans to actuate said other telescoping member to move said first namedmember about its pivot to thereby ad- Just said picker member frominoperative to operative position during reciprocation thereof.

3. Record card feeding mechanism comprising twotelescoping members onereciprocating rela-: tive to the other and also mounted for pivotalmovement, a card picker member having inoperative and operativepositions relative to cardssee ers to be fed, said pickermemberbeingcarried by the first named telescoping member forreciprocation therewith,meanstocontinuously reciprocate said firstwnamedand, cardpickermembers in both positions. of the latter member, meansto: actuate saidyotherl telescoping member tomove said first namedmember about itspivot-to thereby adjustsaid picker member frominoperative to operative position during reciprocation thereof, a. cardstop having an operative position when said picker member isreciprocating in its inoperative position, and means to withdraw saidstop from opera-tive position when said picker member is in itsoperative position.

4. Record card feeding mechanism comprising a continuously reciprocablecard picker member having operative and inoperative positions relativeto the cards to be fed thereby, said member including a head engageablewith a card to d be fed during reciprocation of said member when it isin operative position and having a rotative movement enabling said headto turn under the influence of a curvature in a card engaged there- 'by,a guide on which said head reciprocates and about which it has rotativemovement, means to reciprocate said picker member, a rock shaft andmeans to rock the same, a member loose on said shaft and joined to saidguide, and a connection between the last named member and said shafteffective when said shaft is rocked to shift said guide and headlaterally relative to the direction of reciprocation of the pickermember from one of its positions to the other.

, 5. Record card feeding mechanism in accordance with claim 14,characterized by said head making contact with a card when said pickermember is shifted to its operative position, and said last named memberloose on said shaft having further movement relative to said shaft undercontrol of said connection to further shift said guide and head in thedirection of said card and to permit of rotative movement of said headabout said guide when said head engages a curved card.

6. In a machine of the class described having a magazine adapted toreceive cards in stacked relation, the combination of a continuouslyreciprocable card picker movable relative to the stacked cardsbetween'an active position to feed cards and an inactive position forcontinued reciprocation without card feeding, a guide upon which andrelative to which said picker reciprocates, said guide being movablerelative to the stacked cards to effect said relative movement of saidcard picker with respect to the stacked cards, means operable to movesaid guide to locate said picker in said active position, and meansoperable to move said guide to locate said picker in said inactiveposition.

7. Record card feeding mechanism of the type having a magazine adaptedto receive cards in stacked relation, comprising a card picker, a guidemember upon which said picker is mounted for reciprocation, means forcontinuously reciprocating said picker, and means for moving said guidemember and said picker together selectively toward and from the cards tobe fed to locate said picker in an active card-engaging position to feedthe cards seriatim or an inactive position away from and out ofengagement with the cards while said picker is continuouslyfreciprocated.

8. Record card feeding mechanism of the type having a magazine adaptedto receive cards in stacked relation, comprising a card picker, a

guide member u pon which saidpick'er" is'xnounted; for reciprocation,means: for: continuously reciprocating said picker, means for movingsaid guide member and said picker together selec tively toward and fromthe'ncards to be fed to locate said picker in an active card-engagingposition tofeedthe cards seriatim or an inactive position away, from,and, out, of engagement with the cards while said picker is continuouslyreciprocated, andstopmeansnonnally positioned out of the card-feedingpath of the" cards being.

fed and while said picker is reciprocating in its active position andmovable into the card-feeding path of the cards upon movement of saidpicker to its inactive position and while said picker is reciprocatingin its inactive position.

9. Record card feeding mechanism of the type having a magazine adaptedto receive cards in stacked relation, comprising a head member, cardpicker element carried by said head member, a guidevmember, means formounting said head member on said guide member for both reciprocationand oscillation about the axis of reciprocation, means for continuouslyreciprocating said head member and its said picker element, and meansfor moving said guide member together with said head member and pickerelement relative to the cards to be fed to locate said picker element ineither an active cardengaging position to feed the cards seriatim oneach reciprocation of said head member or an inactive position away fromand out of engagement with the cards while said head member and pickerelement are continuously reciprocated.

10. Record card feeding mechanism of the type having a magazine adaptedto receive cards in stacked relation, comprising a head member, cardpicker element carried by said head member, a guide member, means formounting said head member on said guide member for both reciprocationand oscillation about the axis of reciprocation, means for continouslyreciprocating said head member and its said picker element, means formoving said guide member together with said head member and pickerelement relative to the cards to be fed to locate said picker element ineither an active card-engaging position to feed the cards seriatim oneach reciprocation of said head member or an inactive position away fromand out of engagement with the cards while said head member and pickerelement are continuously reciprocated, and stop means mov-, able intothe card-feeding path as said picker element is moved to its inactiveposition and movable out of the card-feeding path as said picker elementis moved to its active, card-feeding posi tion.

11. Record card-feeding mechanism of the type having a magazine adaptedto receive cards in stacked relation, comprising a pair of spaced cardpicker members disposed on either side of center of said cards, a guidemember for each of said picker members upon which the associated pickermember is mounted for both reciprocation and oscillation about the axisof reciprocation, means for continuously reciprocating said pickermembers together, means for moving said guide members and associatedpicker members as a unit selectively toward and from the cards to be fedto locate said picker members in an active card-engaging position tofeed cards seriatim or in an inactive position away from and out ofengagement with the cards while said pickers are continuouslyreciprocated, and resilient means operative in the active position ofsaid picker membersfor resiliently urging said picker members againstsaid cards to cause the picker members to rotate on said guide memberssoas to align themselves with the face of the card in feeding position. 5

WILLIAM WOCKENFUSS. HERMAN A. SPEH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the :10 fileof this patent:

8 UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Blair Mar. 16, 1915 Powers Apr.10, 1928 Cameron May 22, 1934 Ford Oct. 8, 1935 Simpson Dec. 31, 1940

